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Portugal look red hot

Portugal 2 Turkey 0

The pre-match talk was all about Cristiano Ronaldo, who wants to play for Real Madrid, but it was a man who already does, the towering centre-half Pepe, who got Portugal's bid to win Euro 2008 off to a winning start in Geneva last night with a goal Manchester United's Footballer of the Year would have been proud of.

Frustrated for an hour by Turkey's obdurate resistance and their own inaccuracy, Portugal rattled the framework of Volkan Demirel's goal twice and Pepe had a goal disallowed for offside before he brought relief, exchanging passes with Nuno Gomes before shooting in low, from 12 yards. Substitute Raul Meireles gave the result a more realistic look when he finished from close range in stoppage time.

The result was an entirely equitable one, Luiz Felipe Scolari's attractive team having been on top throughout.They move on to play the Czech Republic, again in Geneva on